For the first time in 34 years, Boeheim, did not attend the Big East Conference's annual media day on Wednesday. Instead, the longtime Syracuse coach was in a ball-room at the Ritz-Carlton here in downtown Charlotte as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference's annual media event known as Operation Basketball.

Boeheim showed no weepy sentimentality, no crusty bitterness, no emotion whatsoever over Syracuse's move from the Big East to the ACC.

"It's really not a difficult transition because the old Big East is not there,'' said Boeheim, dressed in black pants, a white golf shirt with the block S logo and a blue Syracuse sweat top. "It had changed so dramatically. People don't realize. The league changed so dramatically over the years. There are seven teams in this league that played in the Big East. There weren't seven teams in the Big East that were in it in the beginning. It's a different league.

"I mean there's a certain degree of nostalgia about not being in that league because that's where you were for 34 years,'' he added, "but this is a better league.''

The ACC that Syracuse joins this year along with fellow Big East schools Pittsburgh and Notre Dame could actually be one of the best conferences in college basketball history.

In North Carolina, Duke and Syracuse, the ACC can boast three of the top five winningest programs in college basketball history. Notre Dame ranks ninth.

"What I do think is going to happen is you're getting ready to see a great conference become amazing,'' said Leonard Hamilton, who has seen both sides of the Big East/ACC fence in his current post at Florida State and his previous stint at Miami. "You have a collection of teams that are some of the most successful and tradition-rich programs in college basketball.''

ACC commissioner John Swofford said that more credentialed media covered this year's Operation Basketball than any previous year.

And Syracuse proved to be the most intriguing part of Wednesday's media day.

Reporters crowded around Syracuse senior C.J. Fair during the players' morning interview session. Fair was later named the ACC's Preseason Player of the Year in the ACC's media poll.

"It's not starting over, but more like moving on,'' Fair said of Syracuse's departure from the Big East. "It's a new journey. The ACC is something a lot of people are looking forward to. Personally, I want to win the ACC in our first year here.''

During the coaches' session in the afternoon, Boeheim attracted the largest throng of reporters around his table, out-drawing even Duke's Mike Krzyzewski. At one point, a total of 30 reporters huddled around Boeheim's table.

Notre Dame's Eric Atkins said several ACC players had asked him "What's it like to play in the Carrier Dome?''

"I was going to say it's like playing in a football stadium,'' Atkins said, "but it is a football stadium.''

Krzyzewski said the ACC's newcomers should assimilate quickly to their new surroundings.

"Those of us who were worried about losing tradition and rivalries, I think the ACC has been one-up on everybody in basketball and we'll have instant rivalries,'' Krzyzewski said. "We won't have to take any time to develop a Duke-Syracuse, (Duke)-Notre Dame. It won't just be us. It will be instant rivalries. That's why I think our conference for basketball is way ahead of anybody."

Certainly, the Syracuse-Duke rivalry is off to a hot start. The Orange's game against Duke on Feb. 1 is practically sold-out. Syracuse officials said Wednesday that no more single-game tickets are left for the game. The only Syracuse-Duke tickets left are part of season-ticket packages.

"We've sold more season tickets than we've sold in the last 20 years,'' Boeheim said. "We're over 20,000 season tickets and we were at 15,000 or 16,000 (in recent years). Duke is selling out. It's the first time a game has sold out this early since we've been in the Dome. I think our fans are poised.''

Hamilton said he thought Syracuse was headed for the ACC in 2003, but the ACC rescinded its invitation and eventually added Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College. Now, Hamilton thinks Syracuse's arrival is timed perfectly.

"With the climate as it exists now, I think the ACC will be good for Syracuse's mission,'' Hamilton said, "and Syracuse will be good for the ACC.''

The new, larger ACC could be as good as the conference was back when six of the
ACC's eight teams earned NCAA bids three times in four years during the late 1980s.

"That eight-team league set a standard,'' Krzyzewski said. "The Big East, for a short period of time, matched that standard. With expansion, our league couldn't keep up. Now, I think something could explode again.''

The ACC can boast four schools that have won NCAA titles since 2000 — North Carolina, Duke, Syracuse and Maryland. That won't change next year when Maryland leaves for the Big Ten because Louisville will join the ACC after spending this year in limbo as a member of the American Athletic Conference. And while North Carolina and Duke have historically dominated the ACC, the last two conference championships went to Florida State and Miami.

"The competition in the league will be brutal,'' ACC commissioner John Swofford said. "Obviously, I mean that in the positive sense.''